To the editor,
A simple health care bill
I know today’s world is complex and can be confusing at times but I cannot understand why a health care “reform” bill must be 2,000 or more pages in length. It seems the older our country gets the longer winded our politicians become. The bills before the congress today would resemble hundreds of combined bills in years past.
In 2009 the $787 billion Stimulus package was enacted to create jobs and bolster the sagging economy. The total length of this legislation was only 407 pages. In 2008 the Bush administration proposed and received the $700 billion TARP program which was only 145 pages in length. It seems the further back in time one looks the fewer pages legislative bills needed to accomplish a purpose.
If I were to travel back in time I would see the Social Security Act of 1935, which is the largest government run program on the planet, was only 65 pages in length while the Louisiana Purchase Treaty in 1803 was only 10 pages long.
Some of the most important documents in our country’s history required very few pages to change world history. Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation written in 1862 was only two pages in length. The most important document in American history, The Constitution, was penned onto only four sheets of paper.
The document that started our country down the path of self government, The Declaration of Independence, was a grand total of one page in length. It seems today’s political jargon requires one page to declare it’s purpose and recognize each person that wants their name glorified in the pages of history.
Without a doubt the shortest policy enacted was the Monroe Doctrine which garnered a measly three lines in James Monroe’s 1863 inaugural address. Before anyone wastes their time trying to correct me, I will acknowledge the Monroe Doctrine was not a legislative bill passed into law. However The Doctrine had a greater impact on our country’s future than 99% of the thousands of bills that have been debated in congress since President Monroe uttered his famous words.
I wonder if it would be possible to return to the time of simple ideas written in simple terms any American with a high school diploma could read and comprehend. This past weekend I set a personal goal to devise a health care program that was less than three lines in length when written. The task I was determined to complete turned out to be a relatively simple one. My great health care bill would read: All Americans are eligible for Medicare.
Surely this is an idea all Democrats can agree with. Tell any Democrat the government is not capable of competently running health care and they will invariably answer “Medicare”. They tell any one who will listen Medicare helps millions of people and these people are satisfied with their benefits.
Does implementing a 2,074 page bill demonstrate their lack of confidence in the Medicare program or does it signal the Democrats desire to control as much of America as they can legislate to themselves. Maybe the Democrats recognize Medicare is an unfunded obligation of $36 trillion over the next 75 years and will need drastic benefit reductions in the future.
The truth is opening Medicare to every one is no better an idea than the legislation being debated in Congress today. I do feel secure in the knowledge that I created a bill that is only six words in length and is just as viable as any our current officials have devised. Now, what time does the Alabama - Florida game begin?

Carl Goodson is a resident of Clute, TX a suburb of Houston. Mr. Goodson can be contacted at conservativeCarl@gmail.com.